BOSTON -- When Monday night's Yankees-Red Sox game started, all eyes were on Johnny Damon. But when the game was over, the sellout crowd at Fenway Park was doing what it loves most: cheering David Ortiz.

On a night where several would-be home runs were shot down by a swirling wind, Ortiz's three-run shot in the eighth off Mike Myers found its way out of the ballpark. The home run highlighted a four-run inning for the Red Sox, who won the first meeting of the season by a 7-3 final over the Yankees.

"If anybody's going to do it, Big Papi is going to find his way through the wind," said manager Joe Torre. "The final score doesn't indicate what kind of game it was. On both sides, balls were hit good, there were good plays, weird plays; they were just the better club tonight."

"I threw a pitch right down the middle of the plate and he put a hurtin' on it," Myers said. "I made a mistake tonight, and I've seen him make pitchers pay for that. I happened to be one of those pitchers tonight."

Damon finished his Fenway return hitless in four at-bats, as he was booed by most of the crowd of 36,339 during each trip to the plate. There was a smattering of cheers the first time Damon stepped to the plate, prompting him to tip his cap to the fans on each side of the park.

"I felt like I had to salute the fans because they were always great to me here and I know now they're just booing the uniform," Damon said. "They appreciated everything I did and how I played the game. I'm just disappointed we didn't come out swinging the bats better."

Torre was disappointed with the crowd's treatment of Damon, who was one of the leaders of Boston's 2004 World Series team.

"I guess we should feel proud, because evidently wearing a Yankees uniform overrides winning the World Series and busting your tail for four years," Torre said. "Without Johnny here, they may have been working on 89 or 90 years. It's too bad they don't appreciate that more than the fact that he's wearing our uniform."

Ortiz singled in Kevin Youkilis to give the Sox a 1-0 lead against Chien-Ming Wang in the opening inning, giving the Sox a quick lead. Wang worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam, thanks largely to a diving catch by Bubba Crosby with the bases loaded.

Tim Wakefield, reunited with his personal catcher Doug Mirabelli, moved through the Yankees' lineup with ease in the early innings, holding New York to just one hit through the first three innings.

"He's always tough," said Derek Jeter. "It seems like his knuckleball gets tougher every time we face him."

The Yankees finally broke through against the veteran knuckleballer in the fourth, loading the bases with a single and two walks. Hideki Matsui tied the game with an RBI groundout, while Robinson Cano poked a single up the middle, scoring two runs to give New York a 3-1 lead.

"We got the most out of our offense," Torre said. "The one inning we loaded the bases, all three runners scored."

Wang settled down after the first, holding the Sox to one hit from the second through the fourth. But Boston used four singles in the fifth to tie the game at 3, as Manny Ramirez singled in one run and Trot Nixon's RBI groundout plated another.

Wang was lifted after five innings, charged with three runs on six hits and four walks.

"Wang was good, considering how he was struggling with his command," Torre said. "This kid showed me a lot tonight. He bent a lot, but he didn't break. He kept us right there."

Small, making his first appearance since being activated from the disabled list, threw a scoreless sixth and worked his way out of a jam in the seventh.

Wakefield left the game after seven innings of three-run ball, turning the tie game over to Mike Timlin.

"Wakefield was tough," Torre said. "You're not supposed to throw as good a knuckleball with the wind, but he did it tonight. We just couldn't get enough going."

Small walked Alex Cora and hit Youkilis with one out in the bottom of the eighth, as Torre turned to Tanyon Sturtze to get out of the jam. Mark Loretta hit a ground ball single that glanced off Sturtze's glove on its way up the middle, scoring Cora from second to give Boston a one-run lead.

"Walking guys, hitting guys, that's uncalled for," said Small (0-1) took his first regular-season loss as a Yankee after going 10-0 last season. "I can't do that. I'm a control guy who gets ground balls and quick outs, so when I give free passes, it just makes it that much tougher for me. It's inexcusable."

Myers, the left-handed specialist, entered the game to face Ortiz, his former Boston teammate. With two men on and one out, Myers ran the count to 3-1, then got Ortiz to swing at a pitch to make it a full count.

Myers tried to go low and away with the 3-2 pitch, but it sailed over the middle of the plate. Ortiz won the battle, blasting a three-run homer into the Boston bullpen, boosting the lead to 7-3.

"He had to throw a strike, and that really makes a difference," Torre said. "Mike will go back out there tomorrow in that same situation."

Timlin (3-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth, while Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.

The Yankees will try to earn a split of the two-game set on Tuesday, sending Shawn Chacon out against Josh Beckett.